Dwight Gooden threw a New York Yankees no-hitter, 21 years ago today.
On Tuesday, May 14, 1996, Gooden no-hit the Seattle Mariners for a 2-0 victory at Yankee Stadium. “Doc” appeared to be running out of steam in the ninth frame as he walked Alex Rodriguez and Edgar Martínez and then threw a wild pitch to allow runners to reach second and third. But he recovered to strike out Jay Buhner and then got Paul Sorrento to pop out to short to complete the no-no. Teammates carried the 31-year-old hero off the Yankee Stadium field to the cheers of more than 20,000 fans.
Gooden thrice came close to getting a no-no while with the New York Mets:
- On June 6, 1984, in just his 11th major-league start, the emerging strikeout artist reached the eighth inning with a no-hitter intact before yielding a lead-off single to the Pirates’ Doug Frobel. New York won 2-1 in 13 innings.
- On September 7, 1984, Gooden threw a one-hit 10-0 shutout against the Chicago Cubs. The only Cubs hit was a 5th-inning single by Keith Moreland.
- On June 5, 1988, Gooden again reached the eighth inning and again lost it on the leadoff batter as the Cubs’ Damon Berryhill singled. Gooden held on for an 11-3 complete-game victory.
Also throwing a no-hitter on this date was the Kansas City Royals’ Jim Colborn. On Saturday, May 14, 1977, Colborn no-hit the Texas Rangers for a 6-0 win at Royals Stadium.
